'Norwegian by Night,' by Derek B. Miller

This new novel by Derek B. Miller, of whom I’d never heard (he’s an American living in Norway, and the book was first published in Norwegian), was recommended to me as something well-written and interesting in the Leif Enger mode. And it is, except that Enger’s work is mainly rooted in Christianity, while Norwegian by Night is essentially Jewish, though with some genial nods to Christianity.

Start with a sort of homage to Huckleberry Finn, and to Mark Twain’s idea of God. Mix in the Book of Job. Move it all to Norway, of all places. That’s what you’re dealing with in Norwegian by Night.



Sheldon Horowitz is an old, embittered New York Jew, still grieving the death of his wife and – years before – his guilt at encouraging his son to enlist for service in Vietnam, where he was killed. His only surviving relative, his granddaughter Rhea, who loves him dearly, asks him to come and join her new husband Lars in their home in Oslo. Sheldon goes, but feels unconnected. There are only about a thousand Jews in the whole country. His wife thought – and Rhea is unsure – that he’s sliding into dementia. He claims to have won medals as a sniper in Korea, though he’s lost the evidence. He sometimes thinks North Korean snipers are hunting him. Now and then he gets visits from a dead friend, who seems to be speaking for God.

Then, one morning while Sheldon is alone in the house, he overhears a violent fight between two neighbors – immigrants from the Balkans. When the woman runs downstairs and he sees her through the peephole, looking for a place to hide, he opens his door to her. She has her little boy with her.

Before that terrible morning is over, the woman will be dead, and Sheldon will have decided to go on the run with the boy, to keep him out of the hands of the murderer, in a country where neither of them speaks the language. In this iteration of Huckleberry Finn it’s Jim who speaks, and Huck is silent, but the great issues of life are confronted just the same.

There is much talk of God in Norwegian by Night, and I generally don’t endorse it. It calls up the liberal Jewish arguments (I think they’re liberal Jewish arguments) that man has become better than God, and God owes man an apology (Mark Twain would have loved it). But the questions are important, and Sheldon is a man worth getting to know. I enjoyed the book, but it’s not for everyone. Cautions for language and violence.

America, Land of Language

Because you, gentle reader, are the salt of the earth, the voice of reason, the splash of confidence upon the shaven face, I offer you this video for your comment:

I didn’t see this video until after some commentators complained about it, and I’m disappointed in them. This is beautiful. How does this undermine the country? I think some people have political worldviews that taint everything they see in negative colors.

Had they watched this ad instead, perhaps they would be less outraged. I take that back. I think these people live on the Isle of Outrage.

UPDATE: Bell’s Whisky South Africa Ad is beautiful. Continue reading America, Land of Language

I, Hipster

Just an update on my condition. Theoretically I have lots of time to post right now, but in fact everything takes so long, and I have to rest so often, and the pressures of my grad school studies are so large, that it’ll be hit and miss.

Anyway, I had my right hip replaced at a Minneapolis-area hospital on Thursday. In general my recovery has been on schedule, my condition good under the circumstances. Right now I’m spending a couple weeks at my brothers’ and his wife’s place in Iowa, where the environment is a little safer than in my house.

Thanks for your prayers.

David and Goliath: The Advantages of Disadvantages

I’ve always had a good impression of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, but after reading David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and The Art of Battling Giants, I want to find Blink, Outliers, and all the others. They are bound to be just as insightful and transformational as this one.

Gladwell’s two-fold premise is that some perceived disadvantages are actually advantages in the right context and vice versa. He frames the book around the battle between David and Goliath. The army of Israel was terrified of the gigantic warrior Goliath, who could probably spear two men at once. Who could win a sword fight with a man like this? But David, inspired with a confidence from the Lord, changed the battle plan.

I was skeptical of this description at first, as you may be, but Gladwell backs it up beautifully. Goliath was prepared for a hand-to-hand fight. His arrogance probably kept him from considering potential threats like David’s sling, and his eye-sight may have been pretty bad due to the condition, pituitary macroadenoma, that made him a giant (height: “six cubits and a span”). One scholar suggests Goliath’s shield bearer, who stood in front of him when they first met David, was actually a guide, because the warrior’s sight was that bad.

The endnotes in this book hold many cool details like these, but the theme of the story is that Goliath’s considerable advantages on the battlefield became disadvantages with new rules of engagement. The same can be seen in many other situations:

  1. Class Size: Common wisdom says small class sizes are best for learning, but many school teachers have learned that their classes can be too small. They need a critical mass of curiosity and energy to work with.
  2. Top Schools: Getting into the best school you can isn’t necessarily your best choice. You actually want to pick a school in which you can excel. Being in the lower 50% of your Harvard class can kill your spirit, even if you graduate with a degree.
  3. Out-gunned: Ivan Arreguin-Toft says of all the wars over the last 200 years between large countries and small countries, the large counties won only 71.5% of the time. Of the remaining third of these conflicts, the small countries won 63.6% of their conflicts when they refused to fight as expected.

Gladwell tells many fascinating stories about the advantages of difficulties and the limits of advantages. Continue reading David and Goliath: The Advantages of Disadvantages

Is Christian Spec-Fic Too Restricted?

Last month, we talked about the place or lack thereof for language, violence, and sex in Christian fiction. Mike Duran was our source for that post, and now Mike says he has “learned of another fictional archetype that is, apparently, off-limits for mainstream Christian fiction — zombies.”
The reason is that a Christian worldview doesn’t allow for the undead. Since zombies can’t exist, then fictional zombies shouldn’t be in our stories.
Mike says, “Forcing fiction to neatly fit your theology is a losing proposition… at least, if creative storytelling is your aim.”
I agree with Mike. I wonder what imaginative cliches Christian fiction readers/publishers accept as normal but are just as unChristian (in worldview terms) as zombies and other creatures of the dead?

  1. God’s plan of prosperity for us?
  2. No one ever goes to Hell?
  3. Homosexuals as demon possessed?
  4. Hateful people repenting on the turn of a dime?

What do you think?
Other reading: Loren Eaton’s post on this question, “Is it legitimate to discover joy in works primarily intended to arouse fear?”

Five Writing Rules You Can’t Live Without Breaking

Editor Nick Harrison talks about the writing advice he dislikes, such as writing what you know and never using passive voice.

“Write even if you know you’ll never be published.” Apparently the idea is that a writer writes because he has to (which I agree with) and that writing is somehow its own reward (which I disagree with). I don’t know about you, but I’m writing to be published. I’m glad I don’t know whether or not I will have more books published in the future because if I knew my writing would never see the light of day, I’d probably be tempted to quit.

Anonymity Doesn't Promote Transparency

Some argue that anonymity promotes transparency, but it does not. Humility and love promote transparency. In a place where no one knows who you are, you can say anything for the attention you want. All the alcoholics in A.A. actually anonymous to each other? No. They are well-known to each other and anonymous to most people outside the group. The outsiders have proven themselves to be unsafe, prideful, and even hateful. The insiders prove themselves to be honest, humble, and loving.

In a post on Internet anonymity, Peter Leithart notes the problems with social networking:

Pressure to perform is one of the few constants of online conversation. We talk all the time, says sociologist Sherry Turkle in a recent interview, but “all of this talk can come at the expense of conversation.” Web communication “favor[s] showmanship over exchange, flows over ebbs. The Internet is always on. And it’s always judging you, watching you, goading you.”

It’s provoking you to market something, mostly yourself, and to talk at others instead of talking with them.

Making old bones

I have been thinking much of skeletons lately, specifically my own skeleton (I remember C. S. Lewis mentioning, somewhere, that he found it hard to believe he even had a skeleton. I used to feel the same way). If you missed my previous announcement, I’ve been diagnosed with avascular osteonecrosis (bone death), and I will be going in to have my right hip replaced tomorrow morning.

An unpleasant experience generally, but salutary, I think. I am now the old codger with crutches who blocks supermarket aisles, a character who’s always irritated me. Though no macho guy, I’ve always had strong legs, and it’s a shock to be unable to get around easily on my own power. Thus does God humble us.

If the worst should happen, which is always a possibility, what would I want my readers to remember as my final message?

I think it would be, “Don’t try too hard to be loved.” Love is important; love is central to everything (God is love). But real love comes as a byproduct of virtue. Seeking love for its own sake, out of a fear of being left alone, is not only wrong but generally counterproductive. Do what’s right, and you’ll attract the love of people whose love will enrich you.

This is what is wrong with the church today, I believe. It values being loved (by people) over being faithful. Remember, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” First things first.

But assuming this isn’t my swan song, I’ll probably be posting again sometime next week.

Why Are Tennis Balls Fuzzy and Other Questions

Q. Why are tennis balls fuzzy? Aerodynamics, baby.

close up of tennis balls
Photo by cottonbro studio/Pexels

The fuzzy felt that covers a tennis ball helps you control it when you bat it over the net. The bounce and spin you get with a fuzzy ball is lessened by the fuzz. You would notice a difference if you hit around a bald ball after practicing with a new, fuzzy ball. The bald ball would be a little wilder on the court.

Q. If blood is red, why do veins look blue?

This gets at the reason why anything has color. The light that reflects off an object gives it the color we see. Good light has all colors in it, even colors we don’t see (e.g. infrared and ultraviolet). For the blood in your veins, light must soak into your skin before coming back to your eye. Apparently, the light in the blue spectrum is most successful at this, so that’s what we see.

The label “blue blood” to refer to aristocrats comes from fair-skinned Spainish families who lived in the Land of Castles, Castile. They argued that they had the purest breeding in their country, which could be clearly seen from the blue veins on their skin. The truth is that their skin color made their veins more visible, not that their blood was bluer than the Moors or anyone else.

Q. Why are hot dogs sold in packs of 10 and buns in packs of 8?

Hot dog lunch

Businessmen do this to strong-arm you into buying 5 bun packs and 4 dog packs in order to have an even amount at your house. Just this week, President Obama has drafted an executive order to require dogs and buns to be packaged together in even quantities of 8, 12, and 33.

(Photo by alleksana/Pexels)

Actually, the packaging incongruity happened for practical reasons, which we have since overcome. Buns were baked in sets of four, because that’s how large the pans were. See? Practical. And buns are not for hot dog use alone. You could cradle any sausage in a warm, whole-grain bun and shovel chili over it, so the question loses its power when the two aren’t connected.

As for why hot dogs came ten to a pack for so long, it’s because that’s the way they are found in the wild. Obviously. Berk Foods claims, “Americans enjoy seven billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day,” which is the reason so many school children are marked “obese” on their school papers, which is important for school funding because larger kids get more federal dollars because it’s easier to leave large kids behind than small, non-hot-dog-eating kids, and as you know, no child will be left behind in American schools.

Thanks for asking.

Should Your Kids Read Dark, But Truthful Books?

N.D. Wilson writes about “dark-tinted, truth-filled reading” for children: “I would understand if hard-bitten secularists were the ones feeding narrative meringue to their children with false enthusiasm. They believe their kids will eventually grow up and realize how terrible, grinding, and meaningless reality really is. Oh, well—might as well swaddle children in Santa Clausian delusions while they’re still dumb enough to believe them. But a Christian parent should always be looking to serve up truth. The question is one of dosage.”

He says Christians should be protecting their children, but not over-sheltering them from the real painful world. Christian kids need “stories in which murderers are blinded on donkeys and become heroes. Stories with dens of lions and fiery furnaces and lone prophets laughing at kings and priests and demons. Stories with heads on platters. Stories with courage and crosses and redemption. Stories with resurrections. And resurrections require deaths.”

Julie Silander has begun a list of such reading on StoryWarren.